A “Spectrum” Novelette: Dawnsong by Bryn Shutt

“I really enjoyed the writing voice and the musical feel of this story.”

Review by Rayleigh Setser

Light creates shadows, better to die in the dark.

Once, Lilias Khove was someone else, a dancer revered and applauded. Now, she guards a city.

Once, Prevecost was something other, a city strong and renowned throughout the world. Now plague stalks her streets and steals her citizens.

But the city has secrets and so does the dancer.

In a time as dark and silent as the death it fears, these secrets will save or they will damn.

Dawnsong is a standalone novelette perfect for fans of Michael J. Sullivan & Hafsah Faizal

"That is how you create true art. Seeing is how begin to truly live."

I've loved this cover art for so long! With the recent release of Illuminare, the accompanying novel to Dawnsong, I finally made time to read this book.

I really enjoyed the writing voice and the musical feel of this story. I liked the main character and wanted to learn about her world and her life. Her big heart for the people around her made her immediately likable. I know that this is a short story setting up for Illuminare, so I liked it, but it didn't feel complete to me, more like a few short bonus chapters to a bigger story. I wanted to know what happened to the kids, which I thought was the plot of this short story, but that was left opened-ended. Overall, I think it's a heartfelt story with beautiful prose. It's a great setup to make you want more as well, so Illuminare is now high on my TBR.

"That's what living is. A little thing here and a little thing there, and before you know it, you've got a sunrise. You can't save the world. No one was ever asked to. That was the Almighty's job, and look how many people rejected that."